2025 Jaecoo J7 SHS vs BYD Sealion 6 Important comparability: Spec battle

A plug-in hybrid (PHEV) mid-size SUV is the best resolution for Australian households on a one-car finances.

Till just lately although, except the favored Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Haval H6 GT PHEV and MG H6 Plus EV, the fuel-saving powertrain expertise has been largely out of attain for a lot of patrons and reserved largely for big and costly luxurious SUVs.

However a bunch of Chinese language newcomers, together with Jaecoo and BYD, are making it extra accessible with fashions like these, the Jaecoo J7 SHS Summit and BYD Sealion 6 Important.

Each are roughly the identical measurement, each price lower than $50k, each are loaded with the most recent security tools and digital applied sciences, and each characteristic a petrol-electric drivetrain with battery packs which can be sufficiently big to deal with the common each day commute with out utilizing a drop of unleaded.

So which one is finest? Let’s discover out…

Dive into an intensive side-by-side evaluation

Together with value, detailed specs and options

How a lot?

The BYD Sealion 6 vary has been revised for 2025, with a renamed entry-level Important variant (beforehand often called the Dynamic) that units a brand new benchmark as essentially the most inexpensive plug-in mid-size SUV obtainable in Australia, priced from $42,990 earlier than on-road prices.

Patrons also can select to pay $10k extra for the flagship BYD Sealion 6 Premium that options a further electrical motor, giving it all-wheel drive, plus extra commonplace tools.

Jaecoo solely affords a single variant of its new J7 with a plug-in powertrain, the range-topping SHS Summit that prices $47,990 drive-away, which makes these two just about lineball on value as soon as their in your driveway.

There are, nonetheless, three cheaper non-hybrid J7 variants that sit beneath the SHS Summit, together with the entry-level Core 2WD that prices simply $34,990 drive-away, the upper grade Observe 2WD that prices $5k extra, and the all-wheel drive Ridge with a $42,990 drive-away price ticket.

In case you’re interested in how the Jaecoo J7 compares to its rivals, try our comparability instrument

What do you get?

Each the Jaecoo J7 SHS Summit and BYD Sealion 6 include a beneficiant degree of normal tools.

Widespread options to each autos embody:

• Artificial leather-based trim
• Energy-adjustable entrance seats
• Twin-zone local weather management
• Keyless entry with push-button begin
• Rear passenger air vents
• LED inside lighting
• Twin digital shows
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Satellite tv for pc navigation
• DAB+ digital radio
• Panoramic sunroof

The Jaecoo brings a couple of extras which can be lacking from the BYD in Important trim, comparable to heated and ventilated entrance seats, a head-up show, wi-fi telephone charger and embedded satellite tv for pc navigation.

Whereas the Sealion 6 has a bigger 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster (in comparison with 10.25-inch within the J7), its central 12.8-inch touchscreen that may be rotated to both panorama or portrait configurations is smaller than the J7’s fastened 14.8-inch unit.

In case you’re interested in how the Jaecoo J7 compares to its rivals, try our comparability instrument

Are they secure?

Each the Jaecoo J7 SHS Summit and BYD Sealion 6 have been given a most five-star ANCAP score.

Normal security package for each fashions consists of:

• Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)
• Ahead Collision Warning
• Emergency Lane Maintaining
• Lane Departure Warning
• Adaptive Cruise Management
• Visitors Jam Help
• Blind Spot Detection
• Visitors signal recognition
• Rear cross-traffic alert and braking
• Door opening warning
• Driver consideration monitoring
• Rear parking sensors

The Jaecoo provides a couple of extra options which can be lacking from the entry-level Sealion 6, together with entrance parking sensors, a 360-degree digital camera, and the beforehand talked about head-up show, plus it has eight airbags together with a driver’s knee and centre airbag, whereas the BYD solely has seven.

In case you’re interested in how the Jaecoo J7 compares to its rivals, try our comparability instrument

What are they like inside?

As you’d count on for a mid-size SUV, each the Jaecoo and BYD supply loads of house with seating for 5 and respectable cargo carrying capability.

The BYD is fractionally bigger in general size and width, however the Jaecoo rides on a barely longer wheelbase which opens up the cabin a bit extra, matching the Sealion 6 for rear seat room, however compromising boot house. With 340 litres of complete quantity behind the rear seats, the Jaecoo J7 is extra on par with a small hatch, whereas the BYD boot is considerably bigger and affords extra depth.

As for what they appear like inside and the way they operate, the Jaecoo J7 has a cultured but a lot easier aesthetic with a horizontal dashboard design that options floating digital screens and a dominant centre console operating the size between the motive force and passenger seats.

It seems to be good and the standard of supplies current properly, with soft-touch fake leather-based and brushed aluminium highlights all through. And it feels spacious and ethereal because of the panoramic glass roof and lighter-coloured roof liner.

The seats are snug and it’s good to have each heated and cooled air flow to fight our excessive local weather, however they don’t have a lot lateral assist.

The massive tablet-style infotainment display screen within the centre is vibrant and clear, with a logical menu construction to entry the myriad of features obtainable. It might be good to have a collection of bodily controls for often-used parts such because the audio quantity and air flow, however it turns into simpler when you’re acquainted with the shortcuts obtainable.

There are some unusual parts within the Jaecoo that take extra time to get accustomed to, such because the convex form of the rear-view mirror, the upside-down controls for the facility home windows, and the alarming noise of the door handles retracting into the physique each time you set off.

The BYD Sealion 6’s cabin has extra wow issue on face worth thanks its contrasting brown-on-black color palette, sweeping dashboard structure, and its rotating touchscreen social gathering trick.

However, though it too has a full-length glass roof, it feels a little bit extra cosy than the Jaecoo with a darker headliner.

In any other case, each have wonderful headroom and loads of house throughout the again seats, plus rear vents, energy shops and cupholders within the centre armrest, in addition to many handy choices for small merchandise storage.

The BYD’s larger boot house is extra useful for bigger households, however the seats don’t fold totally flat like they do within the Jaecoo, which permits loading of bigger objects.

In case you’re interested in how the Jaecoo J7 compares to its rivals, try our comparability instrument

What’s beneath the bonnet?

Philosophically, there’s not lots that separates these two.

Each the Jaecoo J7 SHS Summit and BYD Sealion 6 Important pair a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a single electrical motor that drives the entrance wheels and is powered by a comparatively giant 18.3kWh battery.

Nonetheless, the Jaecoo’s inside combustion engine incorporates a turbocharger, whereas the BYD is of course aspirated, which helps the previous produce considerably larger outputs.

Within the Jaecoo, the petrol engine alone develops 105kW of energy and 215Nm of torque, in comparison with simply 72kW and 122Nm for the BYD. With the addition of an electrical motor for every automobile, which produce virtually an identical outputs (150kW/310Nm versus 145kW/300Nm), Jeacoo claims the J7 has a most mixed energy of 255kW and a V8-like 525Nm of torque, whereas the Sealion 6 produces considerably much less at 160kW/300Nm.

Nonetheless, the online result’s that each SUVs can be utilized to cowl the common each day commute as an electric-only automobile, with the flexibility to cowl round 90km of driving on battery energy alone, and super-low mixed gas consumption figures of 1.0L/100km and 1.1L/100km respectively.

In case you’re interested in how the Jaecoo J7 compares to its rivals, try our comparability instrument

Price of possession

Each of those newcomer manufacturers present wonderful long-term proprietor advantages, however Jaecoo comes out forward with an extended eight-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee in comparison with the Sealion 6’s six-year/150,000km guarantee.

They every include free roadside help for the primary 12 months, which is reactivated during the guarantee interval when scheduled servicing is accomplished inside their authorised vendor networks.

Each require servicing each 12 months, however BYD permits for larger annual mileage, and its capped value servicing scheme extends for greater than a decade.

In case you’re interested in how the Jaecoo J7 compares to its rivals, try our comparability instrument

CarExpert’s Choose

With each of those vehicles, you possibly can have you ever cake and eat it too.

Every of them supplies all you want – and extra – from a mid-size household soft-roader, together with loads of house, an extended checklist of normal tools, the most recent in security expertise and conveniences, and environment friendly long-range driving capabilities.

The BYD’ Sealion 6’s checklist value (excluding statutory on-road prices) may look extra enticing, and its bigger boot could possibly be extra handy for bigger households, however the Jaecoo J7 affords extra package, extra energy and is (ever so fractionally) extra inexpensive to personal.

Involved in shopping for a BYD Sealion 7? Let CarExpert discover you the most effective deal right here

Involved in shopping for a Jaecoo J7? Let CarExpert discover you the most effective deal right here

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